DONATE
Indiana Eugenics
Indiana was the first government in the world to pass a eugenic sterilization law. The state sterilized 2,500 people from 1907-to-1974. Indiana apologized for implementing the program earlier this year, on the 100th anniversary of its inception. A five-part news series on history of Eugenics in Indiana.
Listen
Indiana Eugenics, Part 1: The Eugenics Movement
September 25, 2007
Eugenics supporters believed they could improve society with sterilization and other progressive...
Indiana Eugenics, Part 2: Legalization
September 25, 2007
In the second installment of the five part series WFYI's Mary Hartnett explores how the state...
Indiana Eugenics, Part 3: The Process
September 25, 2007
In part three of the series, a look at how the process worked and why the program finally ended....
Indiana Eugenics, Part 4: Speaking Up
September 25, 2007
Indiana enforced a eugenic law that allowed institutions to sterilize the "mentally defective"...
Indiana Eugenics, Part 5: A New Kind Of Eugenics?
September 25, 2007
These days, a lot ethicists, scientists and sociologists say we are in a new eugenics era....
Related News
Health / January 27, 2026
Nearly half of Indiana's hospitals are operating at a loss. They say they need help
Health / January 3, 2026
Hoosiers face SNAP benefit restrictions in 2026
Health / December 10, 2025
Black infants are dying at a high rate in Indiana. Here's what an expert has to say
Support WFYI. We can't do it without you.